


Ingrids redemption

by orphan_account



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Canon Divergence, Crimson Flower Route - spoilers, F/F, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Not Beta Read, One Shot, there's an epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25497874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: my interpretation of Ingrids character development after her (horrible) japanese b-support with Dorothea.----Ingrid was taught how to fight, what to think and how to feel. Faerghian traditions and beliefs are deeply rooted inside one. Following Edelgard was a choice she made to break free from all those chains of the past. Leaving most traditions behind was easy, but coming to the matters of the heart there was just something blocking her.
Relationships: Dorothea Arnault & Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Ingrid Brandl Galatea & Shamir Nevrand, Ingrid Brandl Galatea / OC, background Doropetra - Relationship
Kudos: 8





	Ingrids redemption

„Ingrid, what the hell was that?“ Dorothea stormed towards the short haired blonde, looking furious.

„What do you mean?“ Ingrid answered startled.

„I just saw a pegasus knight running off, crying. Her friends told me it was because of you!“

„She is at fault for that kind of reaction“ she shrugged.

„She just asked you out! If you’re not interested, just say so. No need to make her cry, for f-“ the songstress stopped herself before any unwanted words could come out. She narrowed her eyes „What exactly is your problem, Ingrid?“

„My problem? What is the problem of you all?“ Ingrid answered exasperated.

Dorotheas eyebrow twitched „Excuse me?! What are _you_ talking about? Since when is innocent flirting or asking someone out wrong?“ she placed both arms on her hips.

„This is not natural.“ the blonde crossed her arms, avoiding eye contact.

„So this is what you think? Not natural, hm? Do you know what is actually not natural? Crests which were infused in human bodies.“ the brunette raised slightly her voice „Did your crest cause you suffering?“

The blonde nodded reluctantly, still avoided eye contact.

„And did you suffer from an innocent girl asking you out? Did you suffer because of me hitting on you?!“

„I just think.. it’s gross“ the pegasus knight mumbled.

A slap echoed through the halls of Garreg Mach and a wide eyed Ingrid was left behind with a red hand imprint on her face. She slowly lifted her left arm to touch the imprint, while a single tear left her eye.

* * *

The following months went on almost as if that conversation never took place in the first place. Since Ingrid was a flying unit and Dorothea a gremory, both did not interact much on the battlefield. When they were back at the monastery, both kept to themselves. Ingrid spent most time on the training grounds and the songstress elsewhere, only few selected people knew.

This time the Black Eagle Strike Force returned from the battle at Arianrhod, which hurt Ingrid especially hard. Fighting her two childhood friends was probably the most difficult thing she’d ever done. Seeing the anger in Felix’ eyes upon her betrayal. _But was it reallya betrayal?_ All her life the blonde pegasus knight was taught how to behave, the importance of the nobility and crests as the importance of loyalty to the royal house. The glory and honour of being a knight.. but what did it really mean? A made up system with made up beliefs to keep people in place and legitimate the power of those who possessed it. So being called a hypocrite by her former friend stung like an arrow in her heart. But Ingrid did follow Edelgard because she truly believed in the better world the emperor was fighting for, even if the violent destruction of the current system was necessary for achieving her goals. But this didn’t mean it wasn’t hurtful fighting former friends and now there was no friend left who could lend her an ear anymore. The only person Ingrid actually considered as a sort of friend here was Mercedes, who was very occupied with her brother and the blonde really didn’t want to bother them. On the other hand there was Dorothea.. but she for sure hated her now. So there was no one the blonde could ask for advise or comfort.

Her vision became blurred by the meanwhile falling tears. The lance in her hands dropped on the floor and she sunk to her knees. Ingrid never felt as lost as now.

Someone approached the crying knight from behind and placed a gloved hand on her shoulder „Ingrid? What happened?“ the sharp voice asked.

The blonde sniffled and tried to contain herself. Slowly pulling herself up she answered „I’m fine, Shamir. No need for concern“

Not convinced the short haired archer crossed her arms „Hmpf, you’re obviously not. Follow me.“

„But I really a-“ Ingrid tried to protest.

„I said follow me.“ Shamir said and begun to walk towards the pond.

The blonde followed in defeat.

* * *

„Take this“ the archer passed Ingrid a rod.

Both sad down and threw their respective lines into water. Moments passed without anyone saying a word. It was nearly dawn, so most of the imperial troops went to their rooms or spent the remaining daytime in the canteen. Meaning both women were undisturbed and could talk in peace.

„Why are we doing this?“ Ingrid shyly asked.

„You seemed like you needed a time-out. A moment to clear your head and thoughts“ Shamir answered nonchalant.

The blonde hummed.

It took a few more moments until she dared to speak again. „C-can I ask you something?“

The archer nodded. Eyes still focused on the fishing rod.

„How are you dealing with.. having to fight Catherine?“ she asked cautiously.

Shamir frowned slightly „I bear no ill will towards her. She chose her side and I chose mine and if we have to fight, then so we will. The same goes for you, you chose your side and your friends chose theirs“ she answered with her usual tone.

„But don’t you feel anything about this?“ the blondes eyes grew wide in surprise at the lack of emotion.

It took a while before she answered „Catherine was my only partner here in Fodlan. I did try not to get too attached. But being honest with myself, I failed“ she smirked with melancholy „I do really love her, but there won’t be any future for us in this timeline“.

Ingrid grew uncomfortable at that confession and remained silent. Pursing her lips slightly.

„What is it?“ Shamir now turned her head towards the blonde. Sensing her discomfort.

Avoiding eye contact, Ingrid was now the one watching her rod as if her life depended on it „I.. I didn’t knew“ clearing her throat she now whispered the second part „.. you were this way“.

Quirking an eyebrow the archer asked „What do you mean by that?“

„Uh.. that you liked women“ the blonde now was fidgeting with her rod, probably scaring all the fish.

„I knew that same sex couples aren’t very common here, but I wouldn’t have guessed that you people are that much against it“ she said with a dry voice.

„It’s- I can’t tell for the others, but in Faerghus we were taught the importance of reproduction, especially of the noble lines and crest bearers. Every other _entanglement_ is considered just a waste of time and not normal, a disgrace“ the knights voice grew weak „I just can’t get away from this feeling of it being wrong“ she confessed.

Shamir watched her for a while, without saying a word. The blonde grew now even more nervous.

„You like someone“ the archer finally stated.

„Me? No! Surely not! I have duties I can not neglect and therefore I have no time left for any kind of relationships“ Ingrid immediately answered, trying to defend herself anyhow.

The dagdan chuckled „Ingrid, I know you’re having a hard time right now. You gave up everything for a new future you desire to see and you already left so many traditions and believes behind you. So think about it. How do _you_ feel and do these feelings harm anyone?“

She nodded. This was probably the most Ingrid ever heard the archer speak.

Both women sat a while longer at the pond, trying to catch some fish.

* * *

The next day, Ingrid spent her day outside the training grounds. Instead she just roamed through the monastery. Lost in thoughts.

Her talk with Shamir was interesting at least to say. It was true, that the blonde did leave all the traditions and believes of Faerghus behind. Except for one. But why couldn’t she?

When Ingrid was around 10 years old, she met the daughter of the Galatea lands’ blacksmith. She can not recall that girls name, but she remembers both becoming friends instantly and playing together daily. With each passing day their friendship became stronger and they told each other more and more about themselves. One day Ingrid invited the blacksmiths’ daughter to play at her home, since it was too snowy to play outside. Her parents were sceptical at first but decided to let them have their fun. So both girls decided to play Knight and Princess, with Ingrid being the knight and the other the princess. The events in their play took a turn and the knight was the actual one in need, whereas the princess was a master assassin and could handle her enemies with ease. So as a reward for her rescue Ingrid thought to give the princess a kiss.

Exactly in this moment her father entered the respective room and he was enraged by that kiss. _Because that’s what you do, right?_ Ever since this incident the blonde was not allowed to play with other girls or commoners at all. And her father took special care in teaching the blonde the importance of finding a good man in her future.

„I guess I get where this is coming from“ she sighed.

Meanwhile Ingrid reached the star terrace. It was a peaceful evening and the view was breathtaking from this point but she was not alone. There were two more people standing further away from the knight. They didn’t notice her yet. The persons were Dorothea and Petra. It seemed like both were having a meaningful moment so Ingrid kept quiet and wanted to leave right away but something was holding her back, so she kept standing quietly in the shadows.

The two women were standing closely to each other, Petra was holding Dorotheas hands while talking and the songstress was starting to form tears. _Of sadness or joy?_ But then the brunette reached for the smaller woman’s cheek and kissed her deeply-

Ingrid couldn’t watch any longer, so she turned away and left as fast as she could. But what was this dull pain in her chest she felt right now? Why did it hurt this much to see these two kissing? The pain grew stronger and her head begun to feel heavy. _What is this feeling?_ The pain became unbearable, that the blonde needed to come for a halt and take some deep breaths.

„What is it this time?“ a sharp voice asked.

Being startled from the sudden approach, Ingrid forgot about her breathing difficulties.

„W-What?“ she asked confused.

„What got you upset“ Shamir said nonchalant.

„I think I feel..“ it took the blonde to find a fitting word „jealous? heartbroken?“ she tried to explain.

„Is it the songstress?“

„How did you know?“ Ingrids eyes grew wide.

„I saw them going in there before you entered, so this was a 50/50 guess“

„…“ she pursed her lips.

After an embarrassing pause, the blonde spoke again „I’m sorry“

The archer just watcher her, signalling to go on.

„..I want to apologise for my earlier remarks about same sex couples. It was wrong of me to judge the feelings of others, especially since I do have certain feelings on my own“ the knight let her head down.

„Good. Now tell this to those, who you actually hurt with your words“ Shamir patted the blondes head and went away without further words. Leaving Ingrid alone with her realisation. Her heart was still aching but it wasn’t as bad as a few moments ago anymore.

* * *

It took Ingrid four whole days to finally get the guts to approach Dorothea. It’s been very long since both talked in a friendly way. So the blonde searched the whole monastery down to find the songstress, but with no success so far. There was only one place left where she could look after her. The star terrace.

While entering the said terrace, Ingrid immediately noticed a sole silhouette standing. Dorothea was watching into the sweet nothing of the skies which slowly took a cotton candied colour. The blonde slowly approached but before she could say anything the songstress intervened.

„Come, watch the sky with me“ she softly said.

So Ingrid obeyed. Both watched the sky silently. It was peaceful and calm, a rare moment in between the wrath of war they were currently in. The blonde immediately understood why Dorothea was likely to be found here than any other place in the monastery. She turned towards the brunette and watched her for a moment before she finally begun to speak. She looked tired and sad. The war affected her probably the heaviest amongst all Black Eagles.

„Dorothea, I came here to apologise with all my heart for my words. It was wrong of me to judge people for who they are and who they love… I grew up in an environment where this kind of love was tabooed and considered unnatural. Among all the flaws in faerghian traditions and rules I easily could leave behind me, this was the most difficult“ Ingrid confessed.

„Why“ the brunettes gaze was still directed towards the sky.

„B-because I was afraid. Afraid of a side I haven’t explored yet, desires my parents told me to be wrong.“

She finally turned towards the blonde, eyes meeting for the first time „And now? Are you still afraid?“ she asked calmly.

Ingrid chuckled awkwardly „Honestly, I am terrified. The whole concept of love it terrifying for me and now, when I finally accepted my own feelings it got even worse“

„You will learn to enjoy the feeling of love, once you really get to experience it“ green eyes silently smiled.

„..I hope so“ Ingrid answered shyly.

Dorothea sighed „After the war I will go with Petra to Bridgit“

There was the heartache again „Congratulations, I really wish you the best“

„You know, even if it’s not with me. You still deserve to be happy“

Green eyes grew wide „W-what?“

„The only reason why I did hit on you back then, was _because_ you clearly albeit unconsciously showed interest in me“ the brunette chuckled bitterly „but as we know, you just weren’t ready“.

„I- I didn’t know. Oh god, this makes everything even worse“ Ingrid whined.

„Do not worry, it’s now a matter of the past. Sometimes we just act unconsciously“

The blonde nodded shyly, fidgeting with her hands she asked „Can we be friends again? I really miss talking to you“

The brunette placed her left hand on the knights shoulder, narrowing her eyes „There is one thing you have to do for that“

„Anything!“

„You have to talk and apologise to the poor pegasus knight who asked you out. She did not deserve such a bad treatment“ emerald eyes narrowed.

„O-of course! It’s the least I can do. I’ll go straight away!“ Ingrid nodded, did a half bow and stormed away.

„I’ll see you tomorrow then!“ she shouted on her way out.

The songstress just chuckled and shook her head in this ridicule turn of events.

„See you tomorrow, my Ingrid. Maybe in another timeline we could’ve been happy together“ she answered, even though the blonde was too far away to hear her words.

* * *

Without second thoughts Ingrid instantly ran towards the stables. All she knew about that one pegasus knight, was that she was fighting in her battalion and that this girl spent just like herself most of the time in the stables or the training grounds. Luckily for her the person of interest was there.

The pegasus knight was the same height as Ingrid herself. Her stature seemed pretty athletic and graceful underneath the training armour she was wearing. Her reddish brown hair was braided in two casual pigtails which seemed pretty similar to the hairstyle Hilda had back then during the academy phase. Her face was diamond shaped, rosy cheeks graced her pale skin. There was a small scar below her right eyebrow, it still was fresh. The girl _what was her name?_ was very occupied with her pegasus so she didn’t notice the blonde staring at her.

It took her a moment to finally approach. Ingrid carefully cleared her throat, signalling her presence. The brunette turned in shock and green eyes met hazel.

„A-Ah. General! I am sorry for my last performance, next time I won’t act so unthoughtful. I promise!“ the brunette said with panic.

During their last major battle at Arianrhod this girl got hurt pretty bad by a lightning directed towards Ingrid as far as she remembers. It was an unthoughtful act indeed, especially since the lighting could’ve been avoided easily by the blonde. But she was thankful all the same.

„You did what you thought was necessary in that moment, but I have to ask you to refrain from acting this reckless again. You don’t have to offer your life while protecting mine“ she said professionally.

The other girl looked down ashamed and nodded.

„Thank you“

„What for?“ hazel eyes went back up.

„For looking out for me. It’s very good to know that my battalion not just fights for me but also fights with me“ the blonde begun to fidget nervously with her hands „But this is not why I came here. I wanted to ask for your name“

„You don’t know my name?“ the knight seemed disappointed.

_Should she? Was it common to know the name of every battalion fighter assigned to her? This girl indeed seemed rather familiar, something in her presence seemed very familiar but Ingrid just couldn’t sort where they could’ve met before.._

„I truly don’t know.. or at least I can not recall it“ Ingrid pursed her lips.

„Ah, sorry. I really thought you could remember me“ the girl chuckled bitterly „It’s Hanna. Hanna Thulin“.

„..Thulin? I recall our blacksmith from Galatea lands having this name. Could it be that you’re related?“ realisation slowly came and green eyes went wide with shock „You’re princess assassin, aren’t you!“

Hanna just laughed at that „So after all you remembered me“ she wiped back a tear and smiled.

„Being honest, I think I never really got your name. You always stayed in memory as the princess assassin who saved my life“ the blonde smirked.

„As it should be! I am a sword master after all“ she puffed out her chest in mock pride.

„Are you..? Why are you assigned a pegasus knight with main weapon being a lance then?“ she asked confused.

„You really didn’t change much“ Hanna chuckled „Even now you remember the stats and mains of someone better than anything else“ then she lowered her gaze shyly „I trained becoming a pegasus knight to enter your battalion, that’s why“

„Really? I- I don’t know what to say“ a small blush crept on Ingrids pale skin.

„When we got separated as kids, I had to endure many disciplinary trainings because of what happened. After that I lost hope in ever seeing you again, but then war started and I heard that you sided with emperor Edelgard. It was the first time I even dared to think of you again. Everyone was very upset because we thought you betrayed your lands and our king, you just left and never gave anyone any explanation. The war just started and things were unclear, we didn’t get to see the adrestian manifesto but we got dragged into this chaos because Faerghus officially sided with the church. Staying neutral was no option but at the same time we got no help from the other lords and had to watch after ourselves, even though we didn’t had the resources to effectively defend in case of invasion. So I and few others trained to defend us.. Then you invaded. But you didn’t cause any danger or unnecessary fights, you just came and we didn’t resist because you were diplomatic. Was it your doing or not, but Galateas annexation was the best what happened to our lands so far. Even though there is war, we didn’t suffer any cruel casualties. Emperor Edelgard even supplies us with aliments if we need any. That’s why I joined, why I joined you. We believe in the Emperors ambitions and you convinced us“

„You really praise me for decisions I didn’t make. It was all Edelgards doing, not mine. Really, I just follow orders“ she scratched her neck nervously.

Hanna just smiled „You chose to follow her. You chose a new, brighter future for all of us. And you chose to free us and yourself from the chains of old and harmful traditions. Would you have stayed in Faerghus, who knows how things could’ve turned out. But this? This gives me hope, this gives me hope to actually achieve something with my status as a commoner.“

Ingrids blush intensified „A-about that. Hanna, I have to apologise for the last time we spoke. There is nothing what could’ve justified my behaviour back then. Your kind words really soothe my insecurities but even now I still do mistakes. I still try to break free from faerghian traditions and beliefs but I need time, I need time to heal from past wounds and to accept my feelings before I can proceed further. So please accept my apology, that’s the least I can offer you at the moment. My answer is not a no but not a yes either“ she begun to fidget nervously with her hands again.

Her smile just grew larger at Ingrids words „Even now you give me hope, you truly are something. Take as long as you need, I will stay nearby.“

„I’d prefer if you’d stay by my side as a friend.. if this is fine, of course!“ Ingrid smiled shyly.

„I’d love to!“

* * *

epilogue

_Over the years Hannas exceptional strategic and empathetic mind found the emperors attention. The trained pegasus knight received a retraining to an assassin, which showed very effective in matters of protection of the flying units during the final periods of war and saved many casualties._

_After Fodlans reunification Ingrid and her closest friend Hanna returned to their homeland. The Galatea territory had been seized by the Empire, but the emperor granted Ingrid's request to retain governance of it on one condition: that she had to share the governance with no other than Hanna Thulin. This condition was accepted happily._

_From their new position, both women gave their all to ensure that the people of Galatea lived peaceful lives and put in years of hard work to reform its farming practices. Through hard work, pure grit, and a truly knightly dedication to the people, they were able to transform the barren landscape into what would, decades later, become known as the most fertile grounds in all of Fódlan._

_During the reformation Ingrid finally found the time to actually focus on herself and her surroundings. She fell deeply in love with Hanna very soon. The simple and honest work on the fields with the former assassin took the final deed for Ingrid to ultimately find the necessary courage and propose to her dearest friend and lover. Their wedding was simple and small, only their closest friends were invited._

_Both women were known throughout the history as the princess assassin and her lovestruck knight._


End file.
